AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces have extended a security sweep near the Turkish border to the merchant city of Aleppo, activists said, as President Bashar al-Assad pledged reforms that protesters said failed to meet popular demands.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks in Damascus, June 20, 2011, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. (REUTERS/Sana/Handout)

Tens of students at Aleppo University were arrested on Monday and 12 people, including a mosque preacher, were detained in the nearby village of Tel Rifaat, halfway between Aleppo and the Turkish border, following protests, rights campaigners said.

Protesters at the university campus had criticised a speech by Assad, only his third since the uprising against his rule began three months ago, inspired by popular protests across the Arab world that ousted autocratic rulers in Tunisia and Egypt.

In the speech given at Damascus University, Assad reiterated a commitment to "national dialogue" and promised new laws on the media and parliamentary elections but activists were dismissive and the United States demanded "action, not words" from Assad.

Syrian rights groups say at least 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 detained in a fierce military crackdown.

"Road blocks in Aleppo are noticeably more today, especially on roads leading north toward Turkey and toward the east. I saw military intelligence agents arrest two brothers in their 30s, apparently just because they were from Idlib," a resident of Aleppo, who owns an import business, told Reuters by phone.

He was referring to the northwestern province where troops and tanks have been deployed in towns and villages for the past 10 days to quell protests against Assad, according to witnesses.

The military assault has sent thousands of refugees streaming over the nearby border into Turkey.

Central neighbourhoods in the mixed city of Aleppo, Syria's second biggest, have been largely quiet, with a heavy security presence and the political and business alliance intact between Aleppan Sunni business families and the ruling hierarchy, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

Syria, a country of 20 million, is mainly Sunni, and the protests demanding political freedoms and an end to 41 years of Assad family rule have been biggest in mostly Sunni rural areas and towns and cities, as opposed to mixed areas.

TURKEY SAYS CRITICAL WEEK AHEAD

Ankara has become increasingly critical of the Syrian president, having previously backed him in his drive to seek peace with Israel and improve relations with the United States.

A senior Turkish official said on Sunday that Assad had less than a week to start implementing long-promised political reforms before "foreign intervention" begins, although he did not specify what this might mean.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, speaking ahead of the EU meeting, said Assad had a last chance to "concretely start reforms", but added that many people were losing hope.

Under mounting international pressure and facing wider street protests despite the military crackdown, Assad said that Syria was facing security threats and accused "saboteurs" among the protesters of serving a foreign conspiracy to sow chaos.

Following the speech, protesters took to the streets across Syria, with cities like Hama and Deir al-Zor seeing large night-time demonstrations, residents said.

In Hama, scene of a 1982 attack to crush an uprising led by the Muslim Brotherhood that killed thousands of civilians during the rule of Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, protesters chanted "damn your soul, Hafez".

BESOVETS, Russia (Reuters) - At least 44 people were killed and eight injured when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The Tupolev-134 plane, carrying 52 people including nine crew, crashed near a road about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the Besovets airport outside the northern city of Petrozavodsk at about 11.40 p.m. local time (1940 GMT) on Monday.

"The preliminary information is that 44 people were killed," spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova said by telephone. "Eight people were injured and seven of them are in a very grave condition."

The www.lifenews.ru Internet news website, which posted a full list of the passengers, said a 10-year-old boy named Anton had survived the crash but gave no details about his condition.

"We took a child to the local hospital -- the child was in a very grave condition," a medical worker told a local television crew at the scene. She said a total of five people were taken to hospital.

A video made by a witness on her mobile phone, and filmed by the television crew, showed flames soaring from the wreckage into the night sky near where the plane crashed, in the region of Kareliya about 700 km (430 miles) north-west of Moscow.

"Everything was on fire," a witness who declined to give his name told the television crew. A photographer at the scene saw charred wreckage from the plane and dozens of emergency workers and firemen.

The crash comes on the eve of the Paris Air Show which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is due to attend.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has swapped his Tupolev for a French-made executive jet, in April criticised flaws in domestically-built planes and the nation's poor safety record.

One of the most high-profile Tupolev air disasters in recent times occurred in April 2010 when Polish President Lech Kaczynski's official Tupolev Tu-154 plane crashed near Smolensk airport in western Russia, killing 96 people including Kaczynski, his wife and a large number of senior officials.

The Tu-134 plane that crashed on Monday was operated by the private company RusAir and was travelling from Moscow's Domodedovo airport. RusAir, which specialises in charter flights, declined immediate comment.

Most of the passengers were Russian but a Swedish national was also on the aircraft, Interfax news agency said.

The Tuploev-134 is a Soviet aircraft whose maiden flight was in 1967. It was unclear when the plane which crashed was made.

BESOVETS, Russia (Reuters) - At least 44 people were killed when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The Tupolev-134 plane, carrying 52 people including nine crew, crashed near a road about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the Besovets airport outside the northern city of Petrozavodsk at about 11.40 p.m. local time (1940 GMT) on Monday.

"The preliminary information is that 44 people were killed," spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova said by telephone. "Eight people were injured and seven of them are in a very grave condition."

The www.lifenews.ru Internet news website, which posted a full list of the passengers, said a 10-year-old boy named Anton had survived the crash but gave no details about his condition.

"We took a child to the local hospital -- the child was in a very grave condition," a medical worker told a local television crew at the scene. She said a total of five people were taken to hospital.

A video made by a witness on her mobile phone, and filmed by the television crew, showed flames soaring from the wreckage into the night sky near where the plane crashed, in the region of Kareliya about 700 km (430 miles) north-west of Moscow.

"Everything was on fire," a witness who declined to give his name told the television crew. A photographer at the scene saw charred wreckage from the plane and dozens of emergency workers and firemen.

The crash comes on the eve of the Paris Air Show which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is due to attend.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has swapped his Tupolev for a French-made executive jet, in April criticised flaws in domestically-built planes and the nation's poor safety record.

One of the most high-profile Tupolev air disasters in recent times occurred in April 2010 when Polish President Lech Kaczynski's official Tupolev Tu-154 plane crashed near Smolensk airport in western Russia, killing 96 people including Kaczynski, his wife and a large number of senior officials.

The Tu-134 plane that crashed on Monday was operated by the private company RusAir and was travelling from Moscow's Domodedovo airport. RusAir, which specialises in charter flights, declined immediate comment.

Most of the passengers were Russian but a Swedish national was also on the aircraft, Interfax news agency said.

The Tuploev-134 is a Soviet aircraft whose maiden flight was in 1967. It was unclear when the plane which crashed was made.

NEW YORK (AP): Five months after his abrupt departure from MSNBC, outspokenly liberal TV host Keith Olbermann premiered on the Current TV network Monday night awash in media attention to his arrival at a new home.

His new nightly show, like the old one, is called "Countdown," and it retains the signature musical riff from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

It also features the left-leaning point of view and attitude that made Olbermann the most popular host on MSNBC, attracting a nightly audience averaging more than a million viewers.

Oddly missing from the first Current show, for better or worse: the formatted reverse ranking of topics that gave "Countdown" its name.

"As I was saying," Olbermann said at the top of the hour in what was surely an homage to master late-night host Jack Paar, as if to resume his own message in mid-thought after his five-month interruption.

"The nation is losing its independence through the malfeasance of one political party and the timidity of another," he declared in his first Special Comment, and, meaning ordinary citizens, he added, "Even though you and I should not have to be the last line of defense, apparently we are, so we damn well better start being it."

Initially, at least, Olbermann likely will draw far fewer viewers on Current, a six-year-old network founded by former Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt, a former Democratic National Committee finance chairman. Current is available in 60 million homes, roughly one-third fewer than MSNBC, and until now its audience has been minuscule.

But Olbermann is meant to be the new face of Current, bringing new viewers to the network overall as they seek out his show.

Viewers who reconnected with Olbermann on Monday heard him bash US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Republican US Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, among other familiar targets.

Olbermann welcomed his first guest, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, with whom he joined in criticizing President Barack Obama for opting to reject for legal reasons the word "hostilities" to describe US involvement in Libya's civil war.

He zinged members of Congress, quipping they spend "too much time there for it just to be a hobby, but they're not taking it seriously enough for it to be a full-time job."

During the hour, segments included "Inside the Republican Cult" and "Worst Persons."

And, as if to demonstrate he is in charge at Current in a way his old bosses at MSNBC wouldn't let him be, he let "Countdown" run long, four minutes past the hour.

Then he signed off with his trademark toss of a wadded-up sheet of his script at the camera. But before he did, he told his viewers, "Thank you helping us preserve freedom of news."

Devastated that some of their favourite shows were yanked off the air before ever getting to bare their teeth properly, the Sofa Spudniks decide to rant a little.

IF there is one thing a true TV fan fears, it's the C-word. Ok, I'll spell it out – cancellation. Having your favourite show axed mid-way through a developing story or plot line is simply devastating. It is also annoying, frustrating and just plain rude. Yes, rude. Imagine if someone hijacked your plate of char kuay teow before you could even have one mouthful – rude, right? Or if you found that someone tore the last quarter of a novel you were engrossed in – rude, right?

Every story is supposed to have a beginning, a middle and an end. This, I was taught back in primary school. When a TV show is axed too soon it comes to an abrupt end. Worse, some stories remain unresolved and fans are left hanging.

All those hours spent watching and, at times, re-watching episodes are wasted. The heated discussions you had with your buddies after weekly episodes? For nothing. The characters you have come to or are beginning to love? Extinguished – gone without a trace.

TV shows are usually cancelled by the networks because of low ratings. If a show doesn't bring in enough viewers, it's hard to sell advertisement time. No ads, no money. No money, no show! Sometimes, networks do go out on a limb and give a series time to mature. Sometimes, a flailing show is given a second shot. But not always.

One such casualty of network cancellations was one of my favourite cop shows of recent times, Life, which premiered in 2007 and starred British actor Damian Lewis and American actress Sarah Shahi (now in Fairly Legal). Cop shows have been a dime a dozen since Dragnet, which was the original police drama back in 1954. I've watched cop shows all my TV-watching life (I think Rockford Files was the first one I watched, in the 1970s) and I have enjoyed many since.

What is it about the genre that reels me in? The mystery/investigation, the characters, the men in uniform, perhaps? Well, Life had all these elements and then some. The story: LAPD Detective Charlie Crews (Lewis) is imprisoned for a triple murder he didn't commit. Twelve years later, the DA re-opens the case and exonerates him. He returns to life and goes back to work with a multi-million dollar settlement in his pocket. He also returns with a steely resolve to hunt down the guys that set him up.

Seems pretty typical, right? Wrong! Crews is like no cop you've seen on TV. The years in prison made him strong both mentally and physically. Getting beat up in the slammer could either make or break him; for Crews it was obviously the former. He became intuitive and appreciative of life. He achieved an inner calm (he listened to motivational tapes – acck! I guess no one is perfect) which is in stark contrast to his raging need for retribution.

He is cool, he is funny, he is infuriating, he is strong, he is weak, he is cute and he just loves his fruit. What raised Life from being just another cop show was the clever writing (the stories and the characters) and the lead character of Crews played unfalteringly by Lewis.

I don't understand why the show attracted only mediocre ratings. Why? It was particularly painful because while Life was cancelled, banal and cliched shows like 90210, One Tree Hill, Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy got picked up (again and again and again).

Where is the justice? I need retribution. I need some inner peace. I need Charlie Crews back. – S. Indramalar

Creepfest

I'm trying to be all Zen, like Charlie Crews but I'm failing badly, thinking of all the brilliant but cancelled shows I have squandered too much love and time over (thank your lucky stars this column is devoted to television, dear reader, and not anything else ... like, say umm, men perhaps, or this would be one long story to get through.)

The first show that pops in my head is American Gothic from 1995. Obvious choice.

I only vaguely remember the plot now, but the characters remain etched in my mind (I think for all eternity) – Sheriff Lucas Buck, Caleb and Merlyn Temple, Dr Matt Crower, Gail Emory... wow. I had to revisit some of the episodes on Youtube and eek! they were pretty scary.

Produced by horror maestro Sam Raimi, the series was created by Shaun Cassidy, which I think made me like it even more. I was a huge Hardy Boys fan in my tween years (ahem ... hey, did you know they had Hardy Boys dolls way back in the day?).

So anyway, American Gothic was set in the heart of South Carolina in a small (fictitious) town called Trinity. The plot revolved around 10-year-old Caleb Temple (Black, who more recently starred in The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift and has this awesome Alabama accent I so love to hear). In Cassidy's words (I watched an interview he did with Regis & Lee on Youtube), the series is an adult fairytale which adresses a lot of fears we have, and hopefully explains these fears to us and takes us on an exciting journey. Exciting journey it sure was for me.

The story began rather eerily with Caleb's sister Merlyn's murder, which the audience is allowed to witness just so we know, right off the bat, what sort of town and sheriff we're dealing with.

As the story progresses, we learn that Sheriff Buck (a very menacing yet charming Gary Cole) has a special connection with young Caleb, and that he has rather dark supernatural powers too. Caleb's allies are the handsome Dr Crower (Jake Webber) and his reporter cousin Gail (Paige Turco) ... oh, and the ghost of his dead sister of course (Sarah Paulson).

Long before the days of the Winchester brothers, American Gothic had started planting its seed on television's dark side. So thankfully, with or without the show, at least the old-fashioned battle between good and evil still goes on.

Another very dear show to me that had a shorter life than a pet mouse (hehe, I read that somewhere) was Firefly. Hey, I just discovered there's even a dedicated Facebook page – BringBackFirefly (with 44,434 likes, 44,435 now that I have pressed "like" too)! The space western series – now, you have to admit, that is a unique genre - was created by writer and director Joss Whedon.

I so want to write about Firefly, too, but I feel I have to devote an entire column to that one. I adore Nathan Fillion too much to allow him to settle for anything less. So hold on to your spaceships people. I'll get to Firefly and Serenity in good time.

> An orchid doesn't lose its fragrance just because no one notices how good it smells – sounds like something Charlie Crews would say. Tell us what you think, folks. Send your missives to entertainment@thestar.com.my.

WASHINGTON (AP) - If the U.S. economic slowdown weren't enough to deal with, the Federal Reserve this week must consider a new threat: a resurgent European debt crisis that could imperil the global economy.

Financial markets have been gripped by fears that Greece will default on its debt. Other European nations with heavy debt burdens, such as Ireland, Portugal, Spain and perhaps Italy, could be at risk, too.

When they meet Tuesday and Wednesday, Fed officials will likely discuss what they might do to help shield U.S. banks and a still fragile U.S. economy if Europe's crisis worsened. Some analysts suggest that a panic would cause the Fed to intervene as it did during the 2008 financial crisis, when it lent billions to banks.

"The European debt crisis has the potential to have as big an impact as the subprime mortgage crisis did in the United States," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University. "If it spreads to Spain and Italy, then the global economy could be facing huge problems."

Once its meeting ends Wednesday afternoon, the Fed will issue a statement that's likely to say it will leave a key interest rate at a record low near zero for "an extended period." Many economists say the U.S. slowdown means the Fed won't start raising rates until the summer of 2012, about six months later than many thought when 2011 began.

Later in the afternoon, the Fed will update its economic forecasts. And then Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference - his second session with reporters under his new policy of holding regular news conferences for the first time in the Fed's history.

When the European debt crisis first surfaced in the spring of 2010, Bernanke told Congress that it would likely have only a modest effect on the U.S. economy as long as Wall Street stabilized. He cautioned that the Fed would monitor the developments and their potential effects on the U.S. economy.

At the time, the Fed opened a program to ship dollars overseas to pump more cash into the financial system and give European central banks enough dollars to lend to commercial banks. In return, the Fed received European currencies to hold until the dollars were repaid.

The Fed could resume that effort if the European crisis worsened. It could also pursue stepped-up lending to financial firms through its emergency loan program, called the discount window. And it could resume the unorthodox loan programs it used during the financial crisis when credit froze up.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said in a television interview last week that the likelihood of a Greek default is so high "you almost have to say there's no way out." Greenspan suggested that the crisis potentially could push the United Sates into a second recession.

Still, economists say they expect no major announcements from the Fed this week. Rather, they think Bernanke will signal that the Fed is following events in Europe and would coordinate a response with the European Central Bank should the crisis deteriorate.

Among the unconventional loan programs the Fed could resume, one involves emergency loans that go beyond the discount window. Another is backing for "commercial paper" - the short-term loans that many U.S. companies use to finance needs from salaries to supplies.

European banks, through their U.S. subsidiaries, used the Fed's emergency loan programs. Those revelations have sparked criticism in Congress that U.S. taxpayers shouldn't be required to prop up European banks.

But others say that to safeguard the global financial system, the Fed must serve as a lender of last resort to any U.S. bank, including branches of foreign banks. They note that U.S. banks in Europe receive the same privileges from European central banks.

"The Fed sees the loans as doing its job to protect the U.S. financial system during a credit crisis," said David Jones, head of DMJ Economic Advisors, a Denver-based consulting firm, and author of several books on the Fed.

Even before Greece's crisis flared anew, the Fed was concerned about what Bernanke this month called a "frustratingly slow" U.S. economy.

Since Fed policymakers last met in late April, the economy has weakened. U.S. employers added only 54,000 jobs in May, the poorest showing in eight months. The unemployment rate is 9.1 percent. Most economists have downgraded their forecasts for hiring and growth for the rest of the year.

One step the Fed had taken to try to stimulate the economy is set to end June 30: its $600 billion Treasury bond-buying program. The bond purchases were intended to lower rates on loans, lift stock prices and encourage spending.

Despite the new signs of weakness, there's little desire within the Fed to extend the Treasury-buying program. Critics have complained that the bond purchases raised the risk of runaway inflation while doing little to boost growth.

Bernanke has countered that creeping inflation from higher oil and food prices is likely temporary. And the updated Fed economic forecast due Wednesday is expected to show inflation under control.

Still, the Fed will probably trim its growth forecast for the full year while predicting a slight improvement in the second half of 2011.

NEW YORK (AP) - Oil leveled off Monday with investors still concerned about the European financial crisis.

Benchmark crude for July delivery gained 25 cents to settle at US $93.26 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The July contract expires on Tuesday, and most of the trading switched to the August contract, which added 23 cents to settle at $93.63 per barrel.

All eyes remain on Greece, which is trying to implement tough new austerity measures necessary to keep international aid coming to deal with its debt crisis. Without that aid, investors worry that Greece's financial troubles could spread to other European countries.

Credit ratings agency Moody's has warned that it may downgrade its debt rating on three of France's largest banks because of their exposure to Greek debt. Moody's said Monday that it may reduce Italy's credit rating due to poor growth prospects and high public debt.

"The fear is that we end up with a banking crisis like 2008," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "It's a small possibility, but people are reacting to that."

Oil stayed just above $93 per barrel on Monday despite rising stock markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 60 points in afternoon trading. The Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor's 500 were higher as well.

The dollar was fairly steady on Monday. Lynch said he expects it to remain strong until investors are convinced that Greece will go through with plans to cut spending and raise taxes.

A stronger dollar usually pushes oil lower. Oil is priced in dollars and tends to fall as the dollar rises and makes crude more expensive for investors holding foreign money.

In other Nymex trading for July contracts, heating oil lost 5.1 cents to settle at $2.932 per gallon and gasoline futures dropped 3.5 cents to settle at $2.912 per gallon. Natural gas gave up less than a penny to settle at $4.317 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude fell $1.52 to settle at $111.69 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

LONDON (AP) - A handgun once owned by notorious gangster "Al" Capone will be going up for sale at a London auction this week.

Christie's auction house says that the Colt .38 revolver is expected to sell for 50,000 pounds ($80,899) to 70,000 pounds ($113,258).

It said Monday the gun is being sold by an unidentified private collector. It says the gun was manufactured in 1929 - the year of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which seven people were murdered slain during clashes in Chicago between Capone's gang and a rival gang.

The pistol will be sold along with an original letter from Madeleine Capone Morichetti, the widow of Al Capone's brother Ralph, confirming the gun "previously belonged to and was only used by Al Capone while he was alive."

PETALING JAYA: Young breaststroker Christina Loh (pic) has landed a prized ticket to the World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai next month after rocking the 35th edition of the South East Asian age-group swimming championships in Vietnam recently.

The 16-year-old made the biggest splash among the Malaysian swimmers as she set new meet records en route to winning all the three breaststroke races in her first participation in the Group 1 age-group category.

Christina equalled her own national mark of 32.31 for the second time this year in claiming the 50m breaststroke final, erasing the seven-year-old standing record belonging to Vietnam swimmer Bui Thi Hai.

The qualifying standard for the World Championships for the women's 50m breaststroke is also 32.31.

Christina also won the 100m breaststroke gold medal with an impressive time of 1:11.29 to smash the previous record of 1:14.20 held by Sandy Mo of Singapore since 2004. The Penang-born lass, who moved to Kuala Lumpur to pursue a career in swimming, made it a clean sweep of all breaststroke titles by coming out tops over the 200m distance as well.

Christina clocked 2:36.97 to better the previous record of 2:38.50 set by Ketin Nuttapang of Singapore in 2009.

Christina has been blazing a hot trail in the shorter women's breaststroke races as she dipped below the 33-second mark for the first time at the national age-group meet in March.

Christina set 32.31 to improve on her own national mark of 33.22 at that time and she has now emerged as a potential gold medallist for Malaysia at the Indonesia SEA Games in November.

Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia secretary Edwin Chong said Christina is looking good to bag her first SEA Games gold medal if she can clock a similar time in Palembang.

"The women's 50m breaststroke event will be contested at the SEA Games for the first time and she has swam the fastest time in the region this year.

"In fact, she also stands a chance to fight for the 100m breaststroke gold medal if she improves. The women's breaststroke races will be strong prospects for gold as we can also hope on Siow Yi Ting.

"She has returned home here to train with us after a long break to concentrate on her studies in the United States and we hope she will be ready competitively by the end of the year," he said.

PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei may find China's new talents more challenging than some of their old stars at the Indonesia Open which begins in Jakarta tomorrow.

The top seeded Chong Wei may meet one of China's younger generation of players – Chen Long, Wang Zhengming and Du Pengyu – in his path of the Premier Super Series event.

And Chong Wei admits that out of the three, the 2008 world junior champion Zhengming has some special strokes that puts him way ahead of the other emerging stars in China.

In the Singapore Open, which ended on Sunday, the 21-year-old Zhengming defeated Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the second round before bowing out to compatriot and eventual champion Chen Jin in the semi-finals.

Chong Wei said that the lanky Zhengming has spiced up the competition in the men's singles event.

"I have never lost to him before but he has some special strokes. He is even better than his senior player Chen Jin as far as being deceptive is concerned. One has to be wary if they are to play Zhengming," said Chong Wei.

The Malaysian has played Zhengming three times but the toughest was at the South Korea Open this year when Chong Wei had to slogged for his 21-14, 21-19 win in the quarter-finals.

Barring any upsets, Chong Wei may meet Zhengming, Hyun-il or Tien Minh in the last eight.

Only second seed Lin Dan pose a real big problem for Chong Wei from the lower half, which also consist of South Korea's Park Sung-hwan, Denmark's Peter-Gade Christensen, Chen Jin, Bao Chunlai and Indonesian Simon Santoso.

However, it all depends on Lin Dan's condition especially when he had conceded a walkover to Chen Jin in the final of Singapore Open on Sunday due to a stomach ailment.

Chong Wei, however, is not bothered whether Lin Dan competes or not but would rather focus on his mission to win the Indonesia Open for the third time.

"The Indonesia Open is an important tournament for me because of the Olympic Games qualifying points. I intend to do well. A good outing will also put me in good position ahead of the World Championships (which will be held in London from Aug 8-14)," he added.

Meanwhile, Liew Daren and Mohd Hafiz Hashim will begin their campaign in the qualifying tournament of the Indonesia Open today. If they make it to the main draw, Liew will take on Taufik while Hafiz will face Kasuzhi Yamada of Japan in the first round.

Phelps, owner of 14 Olympic gold medals, was nearly a body length ahead coming off the final turn, but D'Arcy reeled him in to win in 1:55.39 to the 1:55.40 of the American great.

D'Arcy, 23, became just the second man since 2002 to beat Phelps in the event.

Phelps had stretched his 200m butterfly winning streak to almost a decade when he fell to China's Wu Peng in consecutive races in the event this year – at the Michigan Grand Prix in April and the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix in May.

Phelps, who recently completed demanding high altitude training in Colorado, said that despite his defeat, he hoped he was on track for the World Championships in Shanghai next month.

"I'm actually in a lot better place mentally than I was a couple of months ago and a couple of weeks ago," said Phelps, who also plans to compete in the 100m and 200m butterfly taces at a meeting in Montreal in a fortnight.

"Being able to come down from altitude and being able to do some of the work I did there, I think is going to pay off."

D'Arcy, second to Phelps at the Pan Pacific Championships last year, was delighted with the victory.

"It's always great to beat somebody who's possibly the greatest athlete who ever lived," said D'Arcy, who didn't qualify for the World Championships. "Any chance you get to beat him, you've got to take it."

At the halfway stage, D'Arcy admitted he did not think he would overtake Phelps.

"If you had asked me if I'd win at the 100m mark, I'd say no. If you'd ask me at the 150m mark, I'd say maybe," D'Arcy said. "I snuck a peek out of the corner of my eye and saw him, and I thought, 'Well, I have a chance.'"

Emily Seebohm grabbed another gold for Australia, winning the women's 100m backstroke in 59.77 despite the after-effects of a bout of food poisoning that saw her withdraw from Saturday's races.

American teen Missy Franklin was second in 59.98 and Australia's Meagen Nay third in 1:00.96.

American world record-holder Ariana Kukors won the women's 200m individual medley in a blistering 2:09.53, with Australian Stephanie Rice second in 2:11.39.

Kukors' time saw her move ahead of Australia's Alica Coutts (2:09.68) as the fastest in the world this year. – AFP

A personal trauma has inspired Joe Cornish to direct a film about an alien invasion in London.

FIRST-TIME film director Joe Cornish's emotional wound of being mugged in 2001 in his neighbourhood has served as the source of inspiration for his debut movie, Attack The Block.

"A gang of young kids nicked my wallet and phone through sheer force of numbers. I was struck by how young they were and thought to myself that I'd probably see them at the park on a daily basis," recalled Cornish in the production notes provided by Platinum Pictures.

Cornish combined his traumatic experience with his love for sci-fi movies (M. Night Shyamalan's Signs and Joe Dante's Gremlins) and sealed the deal of his horror sci-fi flick.

"I love the idea of humans under siege by aliens. I wondered how bizarre it would have been if that incident had taken place during a mugging at my neighbourhood in South London," said Cornish, whose credentials include serving as co-writer in Steven Spielberg's upcoming movie Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn.

Attack The Block pits a teen gang that tries to rob young trainee nurse Sam (Jodie Whittaker) as she is walking home in a scary South London tower block. She escapes when the gang is attacked by a small alien creature that falls from sky.

Soon more aliens crash land and the gang has to defend themselves and their council estate from the alien invaders.

While the movie has its roots in science-fiction, Cornish was adamant to make it even more realistic by adding dialogue and characters torn straight from the streets he had grown up in South London.

"The language was a really attractive aspect," admitted Cornish. "I love Stanley Kubrick's 1971 satiricial sci-fi A Clockwork Orange and argot-written novels such as The Color Purple and Butcher Boy. I felt there was an opportunity to incorporate a similar concept in my movie," said Cornish.

To get fully acquainted with street language, Cornish and associate producer Lucy Pardee embarked on a year-long tour of youth clubs in South London, interviewing the youth in an attempt to understand the lingo of his would-be characters.

"Despite having grown up in South London, I'm not as streetwise as I might be," said Cornish with a laugh. "We did a lot of research. I wrote the story in a quite cartoonish way, the outline of what I wanted to happen, and got a friend to work on alien illustrations," he added.

The youth provided Cornish with phrases in an effort to establish the shorthand between his five heroes, and authenticity of the world he was building.

"It was fun to learn what all the little words mean. We built ourselves a lexicon of about 10 words. I felt it would be best to keep the lexicon to about 10 and use them repeatedly, so eventually by context you know what they mean."

Once the script had been cemented, Cornish turned to Jodie Whittaker (Oliver Parker's St Trinian's and Roger Michell's Venus) to play Sam.

"I was looking for an actress who was natural and unmannered enough for her style to blend with the less experienced actors around her. Jodie was one of the last actresses I met for the part. Meeting her was a very big relief, because I hadn't felt I'd met the right person before and was starting to get worried. Luckily, she was perfect," admitted Cornish, adding that filming took place last year at London Borough of Islington and housing community Heygate Estate in Walworth, Southwark, South London.

Cornish took a big risk of casting five similarly inexperienced actors – John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones and Simon Howard – in lead roles. Despite being aware of the strain that could be placed upon his inexperienced cast, Cornish slowly indoctrinated them into their new world.

"Rehearsals certainly helped the new actors. It was lovely to come on set every day and have a group of actors who were as naive and enthusiastic as I was," said Cornish.

Said Whittaker: "They're such intelligent lads ... this incredibly sparkly group of lads and it's so exciting to think that they are potentially a next generation of actors."

Diana Danielle is all about work and improving her career. Add a rock ballad single in the equation.

Diana Danielle may have the flair for acting but she still feels inadequate somehow. And so she decided to enrol into an acting school in Los Angeles, California.

Diana who just came back from a month's stint at one of the world's top film and acting schools – New York Film Academy Acting and Film School in Los Angeles – is beaming with pride when she recalls how exciting the whole experience was.

"It's always a good idea to enhance whatever skills you have. Even if you are already a talented actress, some acting techniques could help you refine your acting," said the beautiful actress of mixed parentage who has just completed her matriculation course in bio science at the University of Nottingham, Semenyih in Selangor.

Diana, who left in early April to attend the one-month intensive course in the United States, has decided to embark on a long-term acting course next.

"We are trying to negotiate for flexi hours where I can come back after a few months to attend to some unfinished work. I am still committed to complete some shoots for some products that I have endorsed," said the 20-year-old Houston-born actress.

The lass got her exotic looks from mum Norsiah Ramli, who is of Malay-Chinese parentage, and dad Danny Beeson of American-French descent.

Diana is very excited at the prospect of going to back to school, and this time something up her street, a reputable acting school.

"A majority of great actors have had some sort of training. I want to be like them. It would be very useful for me when I hit upon roles that are more difficult. At least I have some techniques to fall back on and help me navigate the rough waters," said Diana, who made an impact as the leading actress in the successful award-winning Magika, the fantasy musical comedy inspired by The Adventures Of Alice In Wonderland.

What is more interesting, the acting course she enrolled in only has six to eight students in a class. It was full concentration in class for the young actress.

"The Acting School programme provides actors with modern on-camera acting techniques plus a foundation for theatre plays.

"The instructors are all professionals comprising working actors, writers, directors, producers and veterans of Hollywood, independent films and television.

"All students are given personal coaching and rigorous discipline is necessary for launching a career in film and television," she added.

For Diana, the intense learning experience at the New York Film School has provided her a complete spectrum of acting skills.

"I have been exposed to a lot of new things and taught all the different crafts of acting for film, drama and theatre with opportunities to work on actual film scenes and productions.

"Hopefully, I can be a better actress because that's what I have been dreaming of ... to be the best in whatever I do," said Diana who will be seen in U-Wei Saari's long-awaited movie Hanyut. She also has a telemovie role in Telapak Kaki Ibu and spot in a yet-to-be revealed Taiwanese movie production.

Earlier this year,she was featured in the controversial Raja Azmi's ... Dalam Botol directed by Khir Rahman (playing a transexual's love interest).

Asked if she is worried about losing her fan base if she is away too long, the popular film actress, who is wise beyond her age said: "Hopefully, absence will make the fans grow fonder.

"Our movie industry is thriving with a lot of good actresses and actors. I think all of us have loyal supporters in our own way. I am happy with the way things are now," said the model/actress who made her acting debut in the film Idola, at age nine.

Diana is also set to launch her singing career this year. She was the support act at the Kenny G concert in Kuala Lumpur last month.

She is expected to release her first single, the acoustic rock ballad entitled Tak Pernah Ada, in the coming months.

"Singing is another passion which I have neglected because of my busy acting schedule, " said Diana, who wrote her upcoming single and is very hands-on in the music-making process.

Word has it that Diana's management team is already in discussion with pop star Akon and top-notch American songwriter/producer Teddy Riley for the album project. Riley has collaborated with big names like Michael Jackson, Blackstreet and Mary J. Blige.

IT'S only mid-year but Malaysia is already off to a good start churning out Chinese movies and becoming a popular location for Chinese filmmakers, with movies like James Lee's Petaling Street Warrior (shot in Ipoh), Adrian Teh's The Wedding Diary (Penang), Bjarne Wong's 3D thriller The Hunter (Sibu) and Dante Lam's Viral Factor (or Against War) that is still shooting in Kuala Lumpur.

Now we have another three made-in-Malaysia Chinese movies that feature an international cast from Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore, apart from local stars. Two are Mandarin movies by Double Vision Pictures titled Paper Moon and Ghost Buddies and another is Cantonese film Start's Good End's Good by Nusantara Edaran Filem. Production is slated to wrap later this year for all three movies.

Paper Moon

Fellow Malaysians should be able to guess that the movie title Paper Moon refers to the Malay traditional kite – the wau bulan.

A feast for the eyes, it aims to showcase the vivid hues of local culture, beginning with colourful scenes of the 29th Kelantan International Kite Festival held at Pantai Geting, Tumpat in Kelantan early this month.

Hong Kong triad-movie stalwart Lam, who plays a kite-maker in the movie, shared that he was glad to be paired with the lovely Chau.

"For the past six years I've either been cast in gangster roles or played buddy partnerships. It's been too long since I've played any scenes with a female.

"I'd like for everyone to see that I too can make a good romeo in a love story. I also found out that I had to get tanned and buffed up because I was to bare my shoulders," mused Lam, who sported a shaggy hairstyle for his first romantic movie.

"I've played with kites as a kid and even tried my hand at making small, simple ones. But I've never come across kites as big as the ones here. And also, I've never witnessed a festival dedicated to kites, so I'm really looking forward to it. I've heard that it takes a few people to fly one kite," offered Lam, who will be learning the ropes from a professional kite-maker known as Pak Ali.

Model-actress Chau admitted to feeling elated yet anxious about sharing scenes with the actor-turned-producer whose retro-action comedy Gallants won the Best Film Award at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards.

"When I watched him accepting the award on stage, I was already feeling worried about our scenes together."

The cast and crew rushed off after the press conference to Kelantan to shoot their scenes at the annual Kelantan International Kite Festival. They will be back in September to continue filming. The movie will also take them to locations in Ipoh and Malacca.

Ghost Buddies

We have another horror-comedy from Singaporean funnyman Mark Lee who now joins forces with Hong Kong's Maggie Shiu Mei Kei to form a deadly, gut-busting comedic team. Ghost Buddies is said to be an atmospheric flick combining ghostly special effects with ghastly humour set in a funeral parlour.

Joining local cast members Vivian Tok, Lim Ching Miau and Wee Kheng Ming at a press conference to launch the movie, Shiu sportingly entertained the local media with her heavily Cantonese-accented Mandarin while Lee liberally cracked jokes at her expense. Together, the two seasoned entertainers had the media members in stitches.

"I have to thank all those Hong Kong directors who came and filmed in our region. I have picked up their Cantonese-accented Mandarin," quipped Lee. "This time, I portray a man who is simple yet not stupid, has a low IQ yet is no idiot, because he still knows how to fall in love with a woman," said Lee, with well-timed pauses to demonstrate his comedic timing.

"One day, while we were filming overnight, there were two families conducting funerals on either side of us. Luckily, they all just went about their business and weren't concerned that we were making a funny movie. They were very understanding and never complained about us disturbing their peace during their moment of bereavement," Lee continued in a serious tone.

Expressing surprise at being cast in a horror-comedy for her first film project in Malaysia, Shiu shared: "I was rather taken aback when I first heard about it. I asked the director why he picked me because I hardly do comedy. Although I was concerned initially, I later found it to be really funny and enjoyable. But I feel that a good comedy that can make the audience laugh is not easy to make."

The Cantonese romantic comedy will have scenes shot in Penang, Hong Kong and China, where it will be screeened as well.

The tale revolves around four lovely sisters – May, Lan, Ju and Zhu – in their search for a soulmate. Soon, all find their soulmates except the eldest because she has lost faith in men due to bitter memories of her cheating father. The younger ones then get to work at changing their sister's fixed mindset so they can all live happily ever after.

Veteran local actress Lai Meng, who portrays the girls' mother, said: "I've got four daughters who are all beautiful so suitors are welcome."

In the movie, Soo, who plays the second daughter, is paired with Chan. She is a talented make-up artiste who was originally trained in music, and Chan portrays a wealthy suitor. Dashing singer-actor Chan hoped that the movie would be really funny and added: "When I film comedies, directors would tell me that I'm a natural comedian. I absolutely love filming comedies – I treat it as fun and play on the set."

Chen plays the absent-minded third daughter who loves to cook for her family. Tomboyish Jiang plays the sister who dresses as a boy and has a strained relationship with her foster father, who is played by Cheng.

Cheng, who will be tackling several action scenes, shared: "There'll be some car-chase sequences and action scenes."

Suzhou-born Zhang portrays an only child who boldly goes after the man of her dreams, played by Hong Kong's Jordan Chan. "My character pursues this man from the beginning of the movie till the end, but to no avail."

Starts Good Ends Good is the first comedy to be helmed by award-winning Malaysian director Bjarne Wong.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council Malaysia has called on the Government to provide a holistic protection of refugees in the country, covering healthcare, education and livelihood.

Malaysian Bar president Lim Chee Wee said refugees and asylum-seekers in the country were often subjected to physical and emotional abuse, inhumane treatment and extremely poor living and sanitation conditions.

He added that close to 20% of the nearly 100,000 refugees and asylum-seekers were of school-going age but not given access to formal education.

"The Government must agree to be a signatory to the 1951 (United Nations) Convention (relating to the Status of Refugees) as we do not have an administration framework for the treatment of these asylum-seekers.

"We also call on the police, immigration authorities, and Rela members to stop harrassing them (the refugees) and violating their human rights," Lim said at the Bar Council office in conjunction with World Refugee Day 2011 on Monday.

Lim added that Malaysia must ensure protection of this basic human right (for the refugees) to reflect its intention to become a leading democratic country in the Islamic world.

"It is rather embarrassing that Malaysia's poor human rights track record was highlighted in Australia recently," Lim said, referring to the two countries' agreement in a refugee swap deal announced on May 7 last month.

Under the agreement, Australia will resettle 4000 refugees currently residing in Malaysia over a period of four years.

In return, Malaysia will accept for processing in Malaysia 800 persons who had been intercepted by the Australian authorities as they attempted to reach Australia.

Bar Council Law Reform and Special Areas Committee chair Datuk M. Ramachandran said the Council will submit a memorandum relating to the protection of refugees rights to the relevant ministries soon.

"We have drafted short to long term recommendations, including the Government to take full responsibility of children of refugees and asylum seekers and for them to be integrated into the mainstream education system," Ramachandran said.

He added that close to 92% of the registered refugee population in Malaysia was from Myanmar.

Other sizeable nationalities that made up the remaining of the refugee population were persons from Sri Lanka, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

The majority of the refugees and asylum-seekers were known to be located in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Baru.

GEORGE TOWN: The Lower Syariah Court here set July 26 for the hearing of the khalwat case against Youth and Sports Ministry Deputy Secretary-General (Strategic) Datuk Salim Parlan (pix) and his companion, Nur Diayana Norslan.

Syariah Judge Nik Bukhari Hashimy Nik Yahaya denied on Monday defence cousel Wan Faridulhadi Mohd Yusoff's application for a re-mention of the case while awaiting the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court's verdict on consent for polygamy and confirmation of marriage in South Thailand.

But lead Syariah prosecutor Mohd Zulkhairi Aziz objected saying that the case could not be delayed while waiting for the earlier application.

On April 19, Salim, 51, and Nur Diayana, 30 pleaded not guilty to a charge of committing khalwat at a hotel room in Batu Ferringhi.

Salim, who was also a former Deputy Director-General of the Road Transport Department, was charged under Section 27(a) of the Penang Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1996 while Nur Diyana was charged under Section 27(b) of the same act. - Bernama

Litrak will be closing Lane No.3 at the Petaling Jaya Selatan toll plaza of the LDP Expressway (from Puchong to Sunway direction) from now till July 13 to facilitate upgrading work. During the period, additional manual toll counters will be opened. Highway users are advised to follow the temporary traffic management and signage posted at the site. For enquiries, call Litrak's helpline at 03-7494 7333.

The National Stroke Association of Malaysia (Nasam) is inviting the public to join them at their fundraising food and fun fair called "Carnival at the Park" on June 26 at Taman Jaya, Petaling Jaya, from 9am to 3pm. A wide variety of food, bargains and games will be lined up, with proceeds going towards funding Nasam Petaling Jaya's operational cost. For enquiries, call Nancy/ Alice at 03-7956 4840.

RAMADAN BAZAAR FORMS

The Petaling Jaya City Council will be selling Ramadan Bazaar forms tomorrow from 9am to 1pm at two locations in Kelana Jaya. Those who want to trade in the PJ Selatan and SS areas can get their forms from Dewan D'Kelana Jaya, while those who want to trade in the PJ Utara and Kota Damansara areas can get their forms at Stadium Kelana Jaya. The payment rate for trading permits range from RM145 to RM365. For enquiries, call 03-7956 3544 ext 204/ 205.

TERENGGANU FAIR

Menara Kuala Lumpur, in co-operation with the Terengganu state government, will be organising a Terengganu State Fair (Pesta Negeri Terengganu) from now to June 26 at the 1Malaysia Cultural Village, Menara Kuala Lumpur. It is open for free to visitors from 10am to 8pm daily. For more information, call 03-2020 5444/ 5499 or visit www.menarakl.com.my

The 47th Ikebana International Exhibition will be held at Park Royal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, on July 2 at 2.30pm. The event includes a high tea, Ikebana demonstration with Japanese cultural performance, and donation drive for the Japanese disaster victims. For enquiries, call 012-379 9211 (Paulene).

Despite the extensions being found to be illegal, they had remained and whatever remedial and risk mitigation works that were supposed to have been put in place were so lacking that it resulted in another landslide in January this year.

Whilst residents applaud the efforts of Derek Fernandez (councillor for the area) in ensuring that the exposed slopes are protected against further erosion, it must rest squarely on MBPJ to enforce the law.

We wait for much more substantial and tangible actions to be taken to right the wrong that has been inflicted against public safety and the beauty of Bukit Gasing.

We now have to keep our fingers crossed that the "Aprons of Bukit Gasing" will be enough to prevent further landslides and risks to the Syabas pump station while MBPJ enforcement officers and Siva Temple committees hold meetings and discussions.

Bukit Gasing is reminding us all that we should leave it alone.

Given the ample signs of instability of exposed slopes and buildings on the hill, will DBKL now admit that they have a duty to give us a hearing before development is allowed?